Hello Phm,
Welcome to the community!
I think Fido appreciates the feedback. I understand there are areas which are not covered very well by Fido/Rogers. However, some of those areas are covered by some of the other providers. With the roaming agreements, you should be able to access those networks with extended coverage (Fido-EXT). It's worth mentioning that Extended Coverage usage is only intended on a temporary basis (ie the majority of your usage should be your home network). If the majority of your usage is on Fido-EXT, access to extended coverage will likely be blocked. That said, if you only visit the area, this limitation shouldn't be a problem.
Although your phone should automatically connect to Fido-EXT for voice and text messaging, you will need to activate roaming to use data. If your device had used extended coverage but you hadn't enabled roaming data, that could explain why you had issues with accessing data. You should also note that some features may not be available in extended coverage (ie 5 additional hours).
Also, what kind of plan do you have? If you have a basic prepaid or postpaid plan, you should note that those plans do not have access to extended coverage.
There are no additional charges for using your phone in the extended coverage area. Your usage while your phone is connected to extended coverage is included in your current plan and billed the same as the services you use on the Fido network.
That said, there are areas which are not very well covered by any provider. There may be various reasons why they might not be covered. For example, some National Parks might not want cellular towers within the parks. In addition, some area residents might be reluctant for cellular towers to be erected near their homes, schools, etc. If there are certain areas you feel needs improvement, you might consider contacting the local municipality so they can assess whether there is sufficient demand for additional towers.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
